


Miscommunication and failures by Lance

by mikuridaigo



Series: Miscommunication and failures [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst and Humor, M/M, Still a space story tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 13:15:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7269760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikuridaigo/pseuds/mikuridaigo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> tumblr prompt: does the “i slept with you the other day and i didnt know we had a mutual friend and now we’re sitting across each other for brunch and it’s awkward because i ran out when you were asleep” au exist bc i need that fic </i>
</p><p> </p><p>When Hunk called the Sunday before the spring quarter began, asking if he wanted to grab brunch with him, Lance said yes; and when Hunk called again, saying that his friend was joining at the last second, Lance didn’t think anything of it. </p><p>Until said friend was the best sex he’s ever had. </p><p>Basically Lance is a screw up and fixing this mess was probably going to kill him</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miscommunication and failures by Lance

**Author's Note:**

> Voltron Legendary Defender has ruined my life, Keith and Lance more so as well. I remembered this AU prompt and thought "yeah, Lance would be the type to do that" so here we go. 
> 
> I'm using Lance's last name will be Sanchez, which I read in Barkour's [fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7214380). 
> 
> There are also characters mentioned from the older Voltron series. I did not watch the older series and picked the characters purely by their wikipedia summary, but the character Larmina is not related to Allura here. 
> 
> Anyway enjoy this disaster. Not beta'd.

At the age of 21, on a normal Sunday morning at cute little family breakfast joint, Lance finally admitted that _maybe_ he was a bit of a screw up. He was proud that he came to this conclusion on his own (completely ignoring all the times Pidge and Allura said it themselves) because hey, he can finally own up to it. Except he really, really wished he was a million miles away from the restaurant—preferably on another moon or even a different galaxy for safe measures.

Either Hunk was the most oblivious man in the world, or he was just that good at hiding his discomfort, because Lance felt daggers thrown into his chest by the man sitting across from him. Said man, with luscious black hair and an _awesome_ red motorcycle jacket, kept sharp eye contact as he stabbed the waffle, the fork scraping against the plate and oh god okay, Lance knew that fork was going to end up in his retinas within ten minutes if he didn’t leave soon.

He would _like_ to take responsibility for his current conundrum, but since Hunk was completely ignorant to the tension in the room there was no way he could make amends and disappoint his friend too.

“So yeah, Keith is such a great lab partner! You two really haven’t met? I think you had Piloting together, and he’s like Shiro’s best friend.”

Keith smiled, one that looked so kind and friendly. His eyes, however, screamed murder. “I’m surprised too, Hunk. They usually say ‘it’s a small universe, right?”

“Oh exactly! Even Coran ran into Xena from the fifth quadrant on a random grocery store run. I mean, I have no idea why they were shopping on Europa of all places but—"

Another stab, and Lance was sure he heard the plate crack. He could see the flames rising from Keith, and no amount of water was going to die that out.

Part of ‘taking responsibility’ was to admit fault, and at that moment Lance willingly took… 99.9% of the blame. It wasn’t cowardice or holding onto his pride—he was definitely at fault for Keith’s anger towards him. However, there was that .1% that also belong to Keith. It’s just, at the way he also ate the piece of porcelain with his waffle, Lance was not going to point out that fault.

This situation definitely took first place for ‘most embarrassing and or shameful moments’ in his life, which was saying a lot since Lance was constantly screwed up.

Number three was the time he was hitting on this hot alien girl at a moon canteen. Unknown to him, she was a triplet with her two other sisters also at the bar. He hit on all three of them, confused to why every time he returned with a drink she was acted as if she didn't remember him. They cornered him at the end of the night and he woke up in a dumpster.

Number two involved attempting a three way with two aliens trapped on an asteroid. He, Pidge, and Hunk, were flying out on a class assignment when they noticed their distress beacon. While Pidge and Hunk fixed their ship, Lance decided to put the moves on them. Nyma was definitely interested while Rolo played hard to get, which only made it more fun. When Pidge and Hunk had to fly out for more supplies, an attempt at sex was made, and utterly failed when Lance found himself handcuffed to a rock with only his space helmet and underwear, while his bike was stolen. Pidge never let him live it down and apparently still has pictures from that night.

First place for most embarrassing/shameful moment occurred right now, but specifically began one week earlier

Finishing their exams, Lance had a major need to loosen up and relax. Unlike his reputation of the loud, obnoxious player, he actually did study for his tests and hadn’t drank since his first final. Now that the winter quarter ended, he thought he deserved a break.

He dragged Pidge and Hunk to the local bar where he paid for the first round of drinks, then Daniel from his Piloting 2 class challenged them to a game of flip cup. Although Lance’s team won three games in a row, he was _just_ sober (aware? Aware was a better word) to the next thing he did.

He went back to the bar to order a pitcher of water when he noticed a really cute Asian guy with a red motorcycle jacket cradling a hard cider. He immediately recognized the guy to be Keith, the quiet, stoic, mullet guy who sat in the front row and next to the window. And yes, he added in cute because beer goggles.

Lance saw Keith as his rival. Since the beginning of Piloting 2, Keith was always one step ahead of him in terms of grades, which made sense since Keith came to the university on a full scholarship. He was sure there was at least one moment Lance one-uped him, but before he could even brag about it Keith left the classroom, probably unaware that he was second best that one and only time. It was infuriating to say the least, to have a rival without the other person actually committing to it, but hey, that inner competition is what drove Lance to surpass everyone else and gain immediate acceptance into Piloting 4, even if Keith was also accepted.

Since Keith was alone and looking sullen as ever, beer goggles said to speak to him. Somehow he stumbled his way over and probably said something super cheesy and slurred. It was a surprise that Keith cracked a smile, and even laughed at whatever he said.

Then their bodies were pressed together, a hot tongue slipped into his mouth, he was pushing him against the wall, then onto Keith’s bed. At that point he sobered up just enough to remember how his classmate withered under him, panting hard and desperately as Lance thrusted hard and fast. He groaned and aggressively kissed him as finger nails dragged on his back.

After getting a cup of water, he returned to the bedroom with Keith throwing him on the bed and holding him down. Keith smiled mischievously as he teased and touched Lance, completely taking control of the situation. Lance groaned as Keith rode him in a slow and agonizing pace, completely not expecting the guy to rock his hips so perfectly, pleasuring them both. Whenever Lance tried to touch him Keith smacked his hand away, and told him just to “Just enjoy it _Sanchez_.” And fuck, Keith actually knew who he was and the way he said his surname was enough to make him come a second time.

Then, as they were basking in post-coital sex, Keith breathed out, “So, what did you think of that final?”

Lance turned his head to Keith, who just raised his eyebrow expecting an answer. But after a few beats the two laughed. Keith rolled over to Lance’s side and rested his head on his shoulder. So he was a cuddler huh? Not that Lance wasn’t either, but again, totally unexpected from the quiet, stoic looking guy who leaves a conversation or the classroom when the opportunity rises. “Could have been worse. Kinda wish I studied more for it.”

“Same here.” Keith’s hand trailed up to Lance’s chest, lightly touching his pecs. “So, do you prefer Lance or ‘Sanchez, shut the hell up?’”

Lance laughed again. That became their professor’s most known sentence after Lance oh-so righteously corrected him in the middle of a lecture. “Lance is fine, although I didn’t mind _God.”_ He said with a wink.

Keith scoffed, but smiled up at him. “Well Lance, if you’re interested I make really good blueberry waffles and a morning blowjob.”

This peaked Lance's interest. “Huh, my breakfast is usually just a slice of toast, but sure I’ll try a blowjob.”

After more pillow talk, they fell asleep, tangled in each other’s arms. He remembered Keith’s soft hair tickling under his nose while his thumb massaged Keith’s back. It was one of the best nights Lance’s ever slept through. Then, it went downhill the morning of.

He woke up to several missed calls from Shiro and Pidge, and finally answering one from Allura. She reprimanded him for almost forgetting that he had to help her with her coronation. He was acting as a ‘knight’ or some important figurehead. He never understood how a civilization as advanced as hers still stuck to ancient traditions of coronations and ‘knighting’s’ but he promised her months in advance so he had to go.

And with his luck his phone died right as the phone call ended. Keith was also completely knocked out from the night before, no matter how much Lance tried to wake him. Unable to call someone to pick him up, he messily put his clothes back on and scribbled his number on a random piece of paper, leaving Keith alone in his apartment. He assumed Keith would call back, and after three days into the spring break without so much as a text message, he took it as a great one-night stand.

So when Hunk called the Sunday before the spring quarter began, asking if he wanted to grab brunch with him, he said yes; and when Hunk called again, saying that his friend was joining at the last second, Lance didn’t think anything of it.

Until said friend was the best sex he’s ever had.

Awkward moment number one went to the outside of the diner, where Hunk introduced his friend. “This is Keith, my lab partner in aerodynamics.”

Lance’s mouth was agape, trying to find words that clearly ran and hid somewhere else. His hand stuck out though, and he winced when Keith squeezed just a little too hard. “Nice to meet you, _Lance_.”

“Y-you too… Keith.”

So yeah, he was probably going to die right then and there. Keith was going to gouge his eyes out with that fork and strangle him with Hunk’s headband. If not Keith, then Shiro was going to kill him. At least in Shiro’s hands it would be merciful, or that’s what he hoped. How was he supposed to explain to Shiro, who was pretty much full time dad since he’s been an RA for the past three years, that he slept with his best friend since high school, and abandoned him the next morning?

He quickly shook the thought of Shiro’s disappointment since, hey, Keith never called him back. That’s where the .1% of the fault went to Keith. He had no reason to be angry since he left his number.

Unless something happened to his number… then it was a huge misunderstanding! Right?

As they called for the check, Lance decided it would be a great time to test the waters. “Well Hunk, I really appreciate the _call_ for brunch. I really enjoyed these _waffles_.”

He was hoping Keith would catch on, as a way of him saying that he did remember that night. Instead Keith scowled. “Pig.”

“Excuse me?!”

“ _Pidge,_ just texted me.” Keith said with his sweet smile once again. “I promised to meet them about our CS assignment.”

“Oh yeah no problem.” Hunk replied. “Sucks that your professor gave you guys homework during the break.”

“Yeah but what can be done right? Anyway I’ll see you in class Hunk?”

“Yup! Have a good day Keith.”

“You too. And to you as well, _Lance_.”

Lance swore while his tone was dripping with venom, Keith definitely purred his name. And that should have sent a shiver down his spine and reawaken his groin. Thank the gods Hunk was oblivious to the entire thing.

* * *

Keith was Shiro’s best friend. That meant they told each other _everything_. He hadn’t seen Shiro since Allura’s coronation, but he was expecting hell when he knocked on his door. While Shiro was not, according to Lisa, a ‘try hard man-whore’, he was open to the discussion of sex. Shiro and sex was not exciting either, since he never gave great detail about his partner and somehow always turned it into a lesson about protection and stds, so theoretically he would be a great choice to talk about his sexual encounter.

He was hoping that wouldn’t change once everything was out in the open.

“Hey Lance! How was the rest of your spring break?”

Shiro welcomed him with his usual kind demeanor, without a hint of anger at all in his voice. “It was… fine. Just hung out with Daniel and the newer cadets.”

“That’s great, they definitely need a mentor if they’re serious about the piloting program.”

He cautiously sat down in Shiro’s loveseat, which he reserved to students who wanted to come in and just chat with him. Next to the loveseat was Shiro’s camping backback that was dirtied with space dirt. Shiro sat at his desk, facing Lance, with a clipboard and pen in his hand. As the RA he had to prepare the next floor meeting once the rest of the students returned from break.

“So… I met Keith this morning.” Lance began.

Shiro glanced up from his work. “He told me. It’s really funny how we all haven’t spent time together. He and I are always hanging out.”

He must have had a different definition of ‘always’ since Shiro was not at the bar with Keith that night, nor was Keith ever around when they went off campus for combat training or bar hopping. “ _Right_ , so, uh, I just wanted to know… did he mention anything about… or did he _say_ anything with…” His hands drummed against the chair arms.

“We weren’t able to talk much since he had a meeting with Pidge.”

“ _Oh,_ so you two haven’t talked since finals?”

“Just a bit of texting, but I didn’t have signal while I was at an RA retreat in Ebb. Why, did he say something at brunch?”

“Not exactly,” Lance noticed how his foot was tapping rapidly and forced himself to stop. “It just… he seemed upset? Or angry… yeah definitely angry! I was just curious if you knew something was up? Hunk didn’t know either.”

Shiro stopped writing and looked up at Lance. That only made him feel guiltier since Shiro’s eyes turned to complete worry. “Oh no, you saw his ‘wrath’ didn’t you?”

“Uh, wrath?”

“That’s just what I like to call it,” Shiro said with a bit of gleam. “Keith can be a bit of a hothead, but not towards others! He makes stupid decisions and then kicks himself for it later, but it’s noticeable huh?”

Ouch. Stupid decisions huh? In all fairness a one-night stand with someone that you see daily was stupid. One-night stands meant to end with never seeing that person again, or seeing them without tension.

“Ah… just a bit. Brunch was fine, really! I just wanted to make sure he was okay, ya know?

Shiro’s smile was probably the nail on his coffin. “Thanks Lance. Keith really isn’t the type to talk about his feelings, so it’s nice to know he already has a friend caring about him. Anyway I’m meeting with him for dinner so I’ll check up with him then. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Y-yeah of course…”

Of course Shiro would actually kill him with kindness. Right now he was asking for the fork and eye gouging.

* * *

The rest of his Sunday went pretty normal. He joined Hunk and Pidge in their room for some video games, caught up on his spring break reading, and went to bed. The first day of classes went on as normal too, just the professor reading to them the syllabus and letting them home early.

By the time he reached his last class, he had almost forgotten the awkwardness between himself and Keith. No one mentioned about having dinner all together or any other gathering plans that involved putting him and Keith in the same room.

He practically skipped his way into Piloting 4, the most advanced course in the University, and the last stepping stone to the Voltron Project. Only a few were selected into the class, and only five could pass the course with a guaranteed spot for Voltron. So take that cargo pilot professor who said he was too obnoxious to be in the program!

Included in Piloting 4 was Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro. All three mentioned their interest in Voltron, and with their qualifications Lance could already see them being the perfect team. Pidge with their computer programming, Hunk with his engineering and repair skills, and Shiro’s natural talent as the leader and strategist. They’ve been talking since freshman year about working on Voltron together, and it looked like it was about to happen.

That was until he saw the person sitting next to Shiro.

Hunched in his red motorcycle jacket, Keith glanced up at the front door before almost dropping his textbook on the floor. Lance’s jaw was probably on the floor while his cheeks were red. He completely forgot Keith was ranking number one in their Piloting 2 class, and was very interested in the Voltron Project.

Pidge waved their hand. “Saved you a spot Lance!”

The seat was at the end of the table, while Keith sat at the other end. At least their friends were enough of a barrier.

Professor Alfor, Allura’s father, entered the classroom and introduced the course. He briefly explained only five will pass onto Voltron, and this class will not only test their skills as pilots, but as a team working as one entire being. Very daunting, and only those most compatible will succeed.

Which was what confused Lance. Because Alfor divided the fifteen students into teams of 5 (based on their skills in their previous classes) and his partners were Hunk, Pidge, Shiro, and fucking Keith.

He tried to hide his whimper in his voice as everyone high fived. Keith was doing a good job at his hiding his frustration on his face, but Lance definitely felt in at his high five.

“Aw yeah this is going to be great!” Hunk exclaimed as he pulled Lance and Keith into a hug. “We’re going to be the best pilots and get into Voltron for sure!”

And like the rest of Lance’s short life, it continued to go downhill.

* * *

It began with a classroom exercise, a juvenile game of jeopardy where Alfor asked questions regarding parts of a space craft, quadrants and terrains of nearby planets, and coordinates of worm holes for easy space travel. Each team was given ten seconds to come up with an answer, and the first to buzz and give the correct answer got a point. It quickly became a game within a game for Lance and Keith when the two began hogging all the answers. While they technically won in terms of points (and Lance won against Keith), Alfor granted victory to the other team since they included all members.

Day two was ‘motorcycle jenga’ or ‘build a motorcycle that can support one teammate—the challenge is the engineer can only give verbal commands but cannot touch anything. Shiro’s immediate command was for each of them to take parts of the cycle (himself with the engine, Pidge with the handles, lights, and breaks, Lance and Keith on the wheels and frames.) Hunk was supposed to give each command one person at a time, acting more like an assembly line. After a good three rounds of commands Lance decided Keith was going too slow and went one step ahead. Keith took it three steps ahead, confusing Pidge and Shiro and forcing Hunk to raise his voice louder than he intended. They finished last.

By the end of the week, Lance had no idea why Alfor hadn’t kicked them out of the class, let alone allow them to fly in the Voltron test ships. This time, it was definitely Keith’s fault since he ran into him several times when trying to cross the finish line, even though the main tasks was to defend a fortress.

“How about you watch where you’re going Sanchez?!” Keith shouted as he threw his helmet on the floor.

Lance was still struggling to get out of the upside down cockpit. “Me?! You’re the one who drove your cycle into my left flank!” Keith’s face was just inches from his, and if the blood wasn’t draining to his head Lance’s scowl would probably look more menacing.

“You weren’t supposed to be there anyway!”

Hunk quickly got between them and pushed Keith away. “Guys! We have to cool it!”

“Tell _him_ that!” Lance said as he fell out of his seat.

Pidge rubbed their temples. “ _Guys…_ Shiro’s trying to save your butts with the professor! How about we quiet just for a couple of minutes?”

Lance leered at the other groups who were snickering by their cycles. They must have thought they had a great chance at surpassing them into the actual Voltron project.

Keith angrily huffed and turned on his heel. “Whatever. If I get booted that’s that.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “Hey! Keith you can’t just--!”

“Keith we have to-- ” Keith pushed past his best friend, making Shiro pinch the bridge of his nose.

“So, what did he say?” Pidge asked.

Shiro rubbed the back of his head. “He said we’re still fair game… even if one of the cycles was destroyed.” From behind, Lance heard the cycle fall apart. “I’m going to talk to Keith, but we will have a team meeting to discuss our issues.”

“Yes sir.” They said in unison before Shiro took off.

By then Lance flopped down on the grass and sprawled out. Hunk and Pidge hovered over him. “So… something you want to tell us about you and Keith?” Pidge began.

“Yeah man, you two seemed fine during brunch. What the hell happened between then?”

Running his hands down his face, Lance mumbled out, “It’s a long story.”

He couldn’t tell Pidge and Hunk at the end of it, however. If Keith hadn’t even told Shiro, then he obviously thought this was a fight that was between them and them alone. Lance, for once, completely agreed with that, and no one else should be involved especially if it may cause their team to divide more.

* * *

On Friday morning he received a phone call from Allura, asking him to meet her by the loading docks. Now usually he would be excited to get a text from the beautiful princess, but in his latest situation, hitting on someone while trying to figure out his relationship with Keith was probably a bad idea.

He was the last one to arrive, receiving a death glare from Keith, which he ignored. Hunk, meanwhile, looked very excited. Allura and Coran walked out of her ship in full commanding uniform, and they immediately stood in a military like stance.

“My father casually mentioned the… trouble you have had with the first week of training. And since I know how important the Voltron project is to you, I decided we’re going to do an extreme team bonding exercise on our way to Balmera.”

Hunk jumped excitedly at the planet’s name, and Lance immediately understood. Hunk was in a long distance relationship with a Balmeran named Shay. The last time he saw her was during the Christmas break. 

“So your dad is completely fine with us using an Altean ship?” Pidge asked.

Allura winked. “As far as father knows, this is an Altean diplomatic trip, since I need to confirm trades with the Balmerans.”

Shiro walked next to Allura and turned to his team. “It will take a day to reach Balmera, and we will use our time in the ship to train as needed. This is smaller than the castle so hiding in the extra rooms will be impossible.” He looked over at Keith, who turned his head away. “We need to show Alfor we are serious about Voltron, and I think this is the best way we can bond. So is this the plan?”

Pidge and Hunk immediately agreed. Lance gave his answer soon after, so all was left was Keith. Keith uncrossed his arms but still kept his gaze away from them. “Yeah, whatever.”

Allura clasped her hands while Coran gave them a fist pump. “Excellent! We will depart in 200 ticks! Do not be late, that is your first mission!”

“What did ticks translate to again?” Lance asked. Keith scoffed once again and walked back to his dorm, leaving Lance to fume.

Shiro was completely right, though. Bonding in cramped circumstances was the best way to really know one another, specifically with himself and Keith. While Keith was acting more distant than ever, Lance was not making an attempt to act even a little civil (and how could he with the way Keith just looked down on him?) If he was going to control one of the Voltron, this trip had to work.

Taking after her father, Allura already had several team bonding plans in mind. Instead of forcing the entire team to work together at once, she divided them into twos and observed. Shiro was the first, and in 30 minute rotations they completed an activity with him, then switched off with Pidge, then Hunk, Keith, and Lance.

So as it turned out, Lance had a pretty steady partnership with everyone else except Keith. All the activities she initiated worked at around 90% compatibility rate, which dropped significantly when he and Keith were paired up.

Coran’s next plan of action was for bonding activates just between Keith and Lance alone. They were trust exercises since he believed that was their main problem with each other.

Lance disagreed at first. There must have been some level of trust to just jump into bed with a guy that he never talked to in class, and since neither of them told their friends about their situation they trusted each other enough to keep it between them. So trust couldn’t have been the problem. The problem was Keith using every opportunity to physically hurt him, while Lance threw insults whenever he could.

Their first exercise was a blind maze. On the upper deck of the ship, Keith was staring at a map while Lance, on the lower deck, stood in the middle of an invisible maze. “Alright, two steps forward and three steps to your right.”

Lance turned to his left and was met with an electric wall. “Keith!”

“I said two steps forward!”

He tried again and found himself with another electric wall. “You’re doing that on purpose!”

“Two steps from your original position idiot!”

The last straw that actually made Hunk reconsider his trip to Balmera was during dinner. The last exercise before turning in for the night was a simple dinner. Allura brought spaghetti from earth and told the two of them they had to share a plate. Now Lance had seen Lady and the Tramp, and if she was thinking sharing a piece of spaghetti leading to a kiss was bonding then goddammit it all, he was going to bond!

But every time they came close to sharing a noodle, Keith always pulled away and broke the pasta. After the third attempt Lance threw his fork down. “Seriously? You won’t even give me this?!”

“Why don’t you just _take_ it huh? Seems like that’s all you ever do Sanchez!”

That… was definitely not the response he was expecting. “What are you talking about?!”

As Keith left the dining table he took one last glare at Lance before saying, “Larmina said you were an ass but she was only scratching the surface of that statement.”

Pidge turned to Lance. “Larmina? He knows your ex?”

“Yeah?” Okay, now he was more confused than ever. Besides passing her by on campus, he hadn’t spoken to Larmina since the end of their freshman year. They ended on very rocky terms, but he never expected that she would say something to Keith. 

“Shiro, has talking to Keith helped at all?” Allura asked.

Shiro shook his head. “He’s acting more closed off than usual. I don’t want to push him, but I also don’t know what to do.”

Pushing his food away, Lance stood up. “Let him cool off,” he said, “I’ll talk to him in the morning.”

Allura cocked her head. “Is that a good idea? Our exercises haven’t been so progressive…”

“I’m not so sure myself princess, but I’ll think of something.”

They arrived at Balmera a few hours later. On earth time it was very late, so once they landed in the docks they decided to sleep until the morning. The lights of the ship turned off, and only the faint glow of the emergency floor lights illuminated the hallway. Just as Lance was about to sleep he heard footsteps approach his door. He noticed a shadow by his door frame, but it soon walked away. After a couple of seconds Lance opened the door and heard Keith’s door slam shut.

* * *

The next morning Hunk was up bright and early, giddy and jumpy to see Shay again. As they were about to leave the ship Lance noticed that Keith was nowhere in sight. “He said he wanted to get some training done, it calms his nerves.” Shiro said.

Alright, that was the last straw. There was no way Keith could just avoid the entire team like that. He told them to go on ahead, and he would talk to Keith now.

Keith was in the training room, fighting a robot with his knife. Unsure how to stop the simulation, Lance tip toed his way to the platform. “Alright seriously?!” He ducked his head as the robot swung its arm. “I thought you were Hunk’s friend!”

Keith gave him an incredulous look. “I am his friend!”

He jumped dodge a low kick. “Then why aren’t you coming with us to see Shay? I’m sure he wants us to meet her!”

Keith mumbled. “I met her during a video call…”

For some reason, that only frustrated Lance more. “That’s not the same! We took an entire day to get here and you’re just going to hole yourself up here? Just be anti-social?! That’s so unfair to our team, and to Shiro!” He knew mentioning their leader would be just enough to fuel him, and it worked.

Keith swung his leg and knocked off the head of the robot. “Hey! Leave Shiro out of this! I have my reasons so why don’t you respect that and leave me alone?”

Lance crossed his arms. “No. You are going to tell me right now what your deal is. Actually scratch that—why the hell did you mention my ex last night?”

He saw a small smirk appear on Keith. “Oh I’m sorry did that bother you? Did you not want your fuck buddies to be talking to each other?”

“Fuck—we weren’t—Lance let out a frustrated yelp. “What the _fuck_ are you talking about!?”

“Larmina! From your Cargo class? Oh yeah, _she_ told me everything about your skeevy sex life.”

“ _Skeevy?!”_ Lance screeched as he took another step closer to Keith. “ _You_ were the one who didn’t call back! I assumed it was a one-night stand!”

“It was!”

Lance resisted not to pull his hair out, or pull at Keith’s mullet. “Then what’s the problem?!”

“The problem _Sanchez_ ,” Keith growled as he took another step, barely leaving breathing room between them. “Is that you _said_ you were going to stay until the morning and I wake up _alone_.”

“I left my number!”

“No, you left a number to your ex!”

Lance threw up his pointer finger, prepared to yell another comeback but his mouth just hung open. “I! I… what?”

“Your chicken scratches left on my motorcycle schematics was a number to your ex. Who doesn’t know their own number?”

He was still frozen, the gears slowly turning to find something to say. “I… should get some brownie points for at least trying.”

Keith blinked. Then blinked again. Kept his gaze at Lance and blinked one more time. “You are an _idiot_.”

Lance frowned. “I was in a rush! I forgot I had another thing to do and you were still asleep so I left my number… or I guess her’s…” Going through the numbers in his head, he remembered that his number and his ex’s were coincidentally the same except for the last digit. He thought, though, he was sober enough to at least know the difference between a 1 and a 7, so he could have _possibly_ written the 1 to look like a 7…

Keith scoffed and took a step back, crossing his arms. Lance huffed. “So what did she say?”

Without looking at him, he answered. “She laughed the second I mentioned your name.”

Although expected, that bit stung. “Yeah, we didn’t totally end on good terms…”

“Tch, an understatement in my opinion.”

Lance glared. “What else did she say?”

Keith’s finger tapped against his arm, as if contemplating his next choice of words. He sighed. “When I told her my name she immediately recognized me. I thought she and I had a class together or something but she referred to me as ‘Oh, the guy who Lance _despises’_.” He spat out the last word, forcing Lance to take a step back.

He was vocal about his rivalry with Keith, so it was no surprise that the other students probably assumed that Lance hated him, even though it was just rivalry and not hatred.

“She said that you saw me as some kind of obstacle in our piloting class, and since you couldn’t surpass me by grades, fucking me was your way of finally beating me.” Keith held himself tighter and still kept his eyes away. “I don’t know what the hell I did to you Lance but you have no fucking idea how much that hurt.”

“Keith…” Lance reached out for him, but Keith slapped his hand away.

“I _willingly_ gave you my body that night, but you go off thinking you conquered me! And now we’re fucking stuck together for the Voltron project that we both want but I can’t stand to look at your stupid face!” He turned on his heel, ready to run out of the training room when Lance grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around. “Let go of me!”

“No! Keith you totally got this wrong!”

“I said let--” Keith tried to turn in his body to loosen out of Lance’s grip, causing both to loose balance. Keith started to fall, and in an attempt to stop him Lance wrapped his arm around his waist. It was too late and the two fell over.

Lance groaned, his arm stinging from the fall. He used his other hand to push himself off of Keith, but once he faced him, Lance was met with tears. “Keith—“

A fist collided with his cheek and Lance fell over. Just as he recovered from the initial shock Keith was already heading out the door.

* * *

Looking back, Lance’s relationship with Larmina was not a healthy one. They met their first quarter of college in their theoretical cargo flight class. She enjoyed shooting Lance down in class, while Lance endlessly teased her even after he lost. That was their way of flirting, and eventually that’s what got them to date. However, the teasing and mouthing was only fun for verbal foreplay, because when things became emotional neither of them were sure how to handle it.

Because of that their relationship was purely physical. Each petty argument ended either in a fight where neither talked for days, or hot and rough sex. Their relationship should have just been friends with benefits, but seeing as she was his first serious partner, he though they were just in a rocky start.

It didn’t last long especially after some fights ended with one or both of them crying and they couldn’t confide it in each other. Lance ended up in Pidge or Hunk’s room while she went to her friends. Both sides told them to end the relationship, but because they were stubborn assholes it took a few more months before it happened.

It was difficult, not because he didn’t see it coming, but to admit himself how hurtful he was towards her. Even if she was just as cruel, one of them should have made the move to either set things straight or just end it before it went further. Lance now saw how immature and prideful he was, even during their breakup.

He wanted to believe that he learned to be a much better person. He still flirted with any being that caught his eye, but he always established things as one night stands, and nothing more. He was used to rejections in bars or on campus, and the nights he did get lucky had no drama what-so-ever. Lance was able to sleep with someone from his literature class, and they saw each other the next morning with no hard feelings or awkward tension. They recognized what happened, enjoyed their time, and moved on.

So his original intentions with Keith were, yes, just supposed to be another fuck and go. And by the way Keith eagerly took him to bed he thought they were on the same page.

As they laid in bed, basking in sweat and heavy breathing, Keith asked another question before they slept. “Ever think of just… taking one of the ships and fly out of here?”

It was odd, seeing as both were able to use the piloting ships for training missions. “Like, fly away from earth?”

Soft hair scratched against his skin as Keith nodded. “Yeah, jet out of our solar system and just wander, you know? We have such a big universe, why restrict ourselves?”

Despite Lance working his hardest to be a fighter pilot, dedicating all he could into what could potentially be Voltron, Lance never thought of just leaving like that. He wanted to be a fighter pilot since he was a kid, and now that the chance was right in front of him there was no way he could give it all up. “No, I guess I haven’t.”

Keith’s question held no stakes, just conversation after sex. He felt shame for his answer, not because he thought it would disappoint Keith, but because it was completely honest. He carried himself as an adventurer, ready to leave at any given notice and save the galaxy. But he took the traditional route: going through the academy and now the university, to fly under total restriction. He never saw it as a hindrance to his need of adventure, just as the proper way to go.

But when he looked at Keith, there was no bad judgement for his answer. Smiling, Keith reached up and kissed Lance. “Fair enough.”

He wanted to ask more, for Keith to elaborate on his question, but sleepiness washed over him. Lance only ever saw Keith are the quiet, lone wolf, but not the escapist. Keith attended class, followed instruction (if not with a little resistance), and dedicated his time for the piloting courses. But with his question alone, Keith said he wanted to leave. Just take off and never look back at earth. It wouldn’t matter if he was the number one pilot in the university, his status meant nothing if he was just gone.

Before he could even ask, Keith fell asleep on him. Kissing the top of his head, Lance fell asleep shortly after and planned for Keith to elaborate over breakfast. Of course it didn’t happen, and when Keith didn’t call back he completely forgot about his questions for him.

Besides seeing him as ‘his rival’ in the classroom, Lance knew nothing about Keith. Keith’s question that night, though, seemed to reveal a lot of about him, and Lance wanted to know more.

Shortly after Keith walked out of the training room, Lance rushed to the main control center. He had to contact Larmina somehow and straighten everything out. He didn’t’ care if Allura or Coran was going to reprimand him for misusing her ship, this was important to his relationship with Keith and the rest of the team.

Larmina answered, first with excitement that the caller was from Allura’s ship, but she quickly frowned when faced with Lance instead. “Oh, how the hell are you able to use Allura’s computers?”

“Look Larmina I need to know what exactly you said to Keith.”

“Keith?” She took a second to remember the name. “ _Oh!_ Rank 1 of the fighter pilot school? Yeah I talked to him.”

Lance frowned. “I know that! What did you say?”

“I told him the truth, that you just fuck and leave. Isn’t that what you did?”

His hands balled into a fist. “No! Well, it happened but it was an accident! You had no right to tell him that lie!”

Larmina’s eyes leered. “I only told him what I know about you! When he called and I picked up he was so shocked to hear that you have him a different number! I mean, how could you do that? The more polite thing to do was just to leave if it was just a one night stand!”

“T-that was also an—

“Accident? God Lance when are you going to grow up and take responsibility?” Larmina shook her head. “I thought you would have matured by now, but after hearing Keith’s voice, I knew you were still the same. I told him what I knew about you so he could get over you faster. If you want to make things right, talk to him, not me. Goodbye Lance.”

With that the call ended. Lance raised his hand, ready to smash the keyboard, but he stopped himself. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he turned off the computers and walked out of the ship, needing fresh air.

* * *

He walked around the docking bays of Balmera, greeting local market people and stopping by for a snack. His wandering led him to the main canteen where he ran into everyone else, and surprisingly Keith.

While Shay and Hunk greeted him with joy, Keith sat at the end of the table, focused on his food. They didn’t speak when Lance sat down and joined them for lunch, and he only hoped no one else noticed the tension.

Of course, Shiro being the father figure, definitely did. After saying their goodbyes to Shay they all returned to the ship. Shiro mentioned right away that the extreme bonding sessions were over, and they should just rest during the rest of the trip home. While Keith retreated to his room, Shiro looked over at Lance. Without saying anything, Lance knew he wanted to talk, so he led Shiro to his room.

Shiro let out a frustrated sigh. “So, Keith told me what happened between you two.” Before Lance could defend himself, Shiro raised his hand as a signal for him not to interrupt. “And while I understand why he was very angry about it; I will listen to your side too. After your first girlfriend, you just don’t seem like the type to try and hurt someone like that again. This isn’t about our group or Voltron; this is mending a serious relationship.”

Lance nodded and took a deep breath. Now knowing Shiro was willing to listen and not be biased for his best friend, Lance felt he could say everything about that night. He explained fully that he had no intentions on hurting Keith and that he genuinely wanted to stay. He also clarified his ‘rival’ feelings for Keith were not malicious in any way, and sleeping with him had nothing to do with it either.

Shiro’s soft smile was what relaxed him once he finished. Shiro now had both sides to work with. “Thank you Lance.”

“I don’t think Keith wants to see me though. But I really have to tell him this. Is there a way that—"

Shiro patted his shoulder. “I’ll handle him, and I’ll make sure you two can talk. We have a full day of flying anyway.”

“Thank you, Shiro.”

“Of course.”

* * *

During breakfast Lance received a note under his bowl of Altean goo, asking to meet him at the cargo hold of the ship. If the cargo was meant to remind him what Lance originally trained for then it was a good joke, despite it being a little insulting.

Keith was leaning against a wooden crate, twirling his knife until Lance cleared his throat. With swift precision he placed it back in his holder. “Hey.”

“Uh, hey.” Between them was a good ten feet of distance, not that Lance was worried Keith would hurt him. With no idea how Keith could possibly react to what he was going to say, Lance wanted to make sure Keith had enough breathing room, or a chance for him to leave.

Lance took a deep breath. “Okay, I have no idea what Shiro said so that you’d talk to me but I want you to know I wasn’t planning on sleeping with anyone that night.” Keith raised an eyebrow, “It’s just, you were looking very lonely especially that half of us were out there celebrating after that piloting final, and like I thought you’d at least be out with _someone_. And okay, I was a little drunk but I also found you to be very, very attractive so maybe that’s why I came off a flirting? I really just wanted to start a conversation but I had no idea how with someone I never talk to let alone someone I knew who was better than me at, like, everything!

“But when we started making out, which I do take full responsibility for not remembering how we got to that point, I wasn’t thinking ‘this is my time to finally beat him’, it was more like it ‘holy shit he’s a really good kisser and he’s hot and his hair smells like apples and I can’t believe Keith _wants_ to sleep with me I hope I don’t fuck this up’.” Lance sped up his last sentence, and once he finished he was sure his face was red from embarrassment and the lack of oxygen in his brain.

Keith just blinked at him, making Lance shift in his stance. “Uh, so yeah, those were my intentions. And yes, I did see you as a rival but I didn’t hate you, just jealous that you were so naturally good at piloting. And I am, truly, greatly sorry for what happened the next morning! I wasn’t looking out for a hookup because I had to be on Arus the next morning, so I woke up to a bunch of phone calls from Allura and Shiro reminding me and then my phone died and you were still asleep so I thought I correctly wrote my number. Uh, my ex and I have very similar numbers though… which is probably how you ended up calling her.” Lance nervously laughed at the last part, but then he sighed. “While I did make it vocal that you were my rival, I did respect you, and I still do. I just wanted you to know sex wasn’t meant as a dominance thing, it was for fun and pleasure. I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I’m really sorry that I did.”

Now that he was done he finally took one long look at Keith. Keith still had his arms crossed, shoulders hunched over, but his face was completely red as well. He was quiet, Lance wasn’t sure if he was even breathing. “Uh… should I go? I can give you time to think of all… this?”

Keith shook his head. “No! No it’s fine just… I’m not all that great, is all.” It looked like Keith shrank even more.

“What are you talking about? You’re the top of the program! You were accepted on a full ride!”

Shaking his head again, Keith slid down against the cargo crate and pulled his knees to his chest. “I wasn’t supposed to be here. Senior year of high school I broke into the university and stole one of the space crafts. My cycle couldn’t leave the atmosphere so I needed something that could. I got caught, but the dean gave me a choice: join the university’s program or go to prison.” Keith’s head fell into his knees. “I just wanted to leave, so I accepted the university offer knowing I can leave earth with my own space ship.”

Lance stepped forward and sat down just a few feet from Keith. “Wow… you were given a full ride for a criminal act? I think that screams natural talent.”

Keith drily laughed. “I guess, still not enough talent to get away the first time though.”

Hesitantly, Lance’s hand reached out for Keith, and gently touched his shoulder. Keith finally looked up at him, his eyes very tired. “Why make friends when you’re going to leave?” Lance asked.

“Yeah. Shiro understands why I wanted to go, and I thought you would too.”

Lance pointed at himself. “Wait, me? Seriously?”

Keith shrugged. “You were working just as hard to get into the fighter pilot program, I just assumed you wanted to leave earth too. But when you said you didn’t actually think of leaving, I dunno, I just wanted to know _why_. We’re classmates and now partners, but I don’t know anything about you.”

“Well, besides your name and school ranking, I don’t know anything about you either.” Lance said sheepishly.

 “So... wanna know more about each other?”

“I think that’s the point of this trip. ‘Bonding’ and all that with the rest of the team.”

Keith pouted. “I kinda meant just the two of us, since we’re struggling the most.”

“Just the… _oh_.” Lance’s face was hot once again. “Wait you mean here? Right now?! What if we get caught?!”

“Get caught?! I just want to talk!”

“Talking! Right, talking, yeah that’s exactly what you meant and—

“Oh my god.” Keith stood up and pulled Lance with him. “Let’s go to my room, talk for a while, then join the team for one last bonding session.”

“Room, talk, just talk, yeah I can do that.” Keith rolled his eyes as he dragged Lance to the private rooms, never letting go of his hand.

* * *

Shortly after lunch Lance and Keith entered the main room. Pidge was on their computer, working on some codes. Hunk was playing with Allura’s mice, while Shiro stood by the monitors, watching their course of flight. They all looked up as the other two walked in, very close to each other. Shiro smiled. “So, everything’s okay now?”

Lance and Keith looked at each other, and like that night Lance saw a genuine smile on Keith. “Yeah, we’re good now.”

“Excellent. Coran, set up the next training simulator!”

* * *

They surprised Alfor and the other teams during the class session, scoring near perfect points as they completed the mission. It was still the beginning of the course, but Alfor could see that they were probably the best candidates for Voltron.

Hearing Alfor’s compliments brought pure giddiness in them. Hunk pulled Pidge and Shiro into a tight hug, calling them brothers in arms and combat.

Lance looked over at Keith, who was smiling at Hunk’s comment. He nudged Keith’s arm. “You know, if we do get accepted into Voltron, you won’t be alone. You’re going to be stuck with us.”

Shiro’s face turned blue under Hunk’s strength while Pidge desperately tried to pull free for breathing room as well.

“I think I’ll be okay with that.”

“Even with me?”

Keith shrugged. “I guess you’re okay too.” Turning his gaze away, he said, “You still haven’t tried my waffles.”

Lance stood there, blinking for a couple of seconds before a large grin appeared on his face. “Is this a private invitation?”

Keith quickly walked away. “It’s whatever you want it to be Sanchez.”

Just as he was about to follow, Lance looked over at his other teammates. They were still smiling and ready to keep flying. Shiro noticed that they were about to leave, and with a nod encouraged Lance to go after him.

Lance caught up with Keith, purposely running him into his shoulder. And while Keith pouted and Lance shined his teeth, they continued walking side by side, hands touching.    

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! Seriously this series needs more works. Comments and kudos are appreciated ^.^


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